The Summer Of Change
by Ethereal Requiem
Summary: Mostly from Colts POV Rocky, Tum, Colt and Jo embark on a new adventure with old foes and new feelings. Set a year after Kick Back.
1. Chapter 1 The Adventure Begins

Hey, go easy this is my first submission; I'm hoping it is ok

Hey, go easy this is my first submission; I'm hoping it is ok. It isn't finished yet, don't know what direction to take it in, I decided to stick with characters which were already established as they already have character developments and arcs going on in the movies, I tried to keep with the continuity but I haven't seen the movies since I was ...12? Maybe and I'm 21 now: P I have them on video but I just refreshed myself using YouTube to write this so it may get changed yet :P As a side note if you see any weirdly spelt words it's probably because you are American and I am English, but you know what they mean :P I'm trying to write as a 15 year old American Boy and I am a 21 year old English Woman so cut me some slack XD

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**Chapter 1 - The Adventure Begins**

Colt breathed in, time to go to Grandpas cabin again, they met up with grandpa when he came to the burbs and took them out, they did that a lot, there was also the family BBQ's and worse the family parties, ugh his aunts sucked. But going to the Cabin was completely different and it made him tingle with excitement, it had completely changed his life, he was a ninja...or a ninja in training, he didn't know if his grandfather would ever tell him when a ninja stopped training, he was beginning to understand that maybe they never stopped learning.

Colt looked around his front lawn, Grandpa was stood next to his mom frowning, yeah his dad hadn't made it to see them off, but it was a regular routine, he wondered how his grandpa was always so appalled, his Dad was always busy, he was in the FBI, and he wouldn't talk about any of it, not because it was intensely secretive but because, his dad said working for the FBI killed his spirit, you don't always get to be a hero and you sometimes never catch the bad guys. Colt kissed his mother on the cheek and was immediately pulled into a full force hug, it was as if she would never see him again, he felt his air supply leaving him and pulled away from her "its only summer, oh ...and say bye to what's his name, oh yeah dad" he frowned and walked to the car, Jessica sighed and received a half hug from Mori. Colt jumped in the back of the car where Tum was playing game boy with a dingdong in his mouth, he hated sharing the back seat with him. Grandpa had apparently done a lot with the place, including getting one of his old friends to install an ultra cool tree house... fortress in the giant tree in the front of the house, apparently a rope ladder lead onto the roof and connected to the sky light by their loft room.

The ride there was the usual, the sun beating down strong Rocky and himself fighting over the radio, he wanted some guns and roses on which he had gotten into lately and Rocky wanted to listen to a band Miyo had sent them in the mail, He had never realised how much they had changed over the last year, they used to be so alike. Grandpa brought them to compromise by pulling up and taking out the music player and locking it in the glove compartment, he said if they couldn't decide like ninja and come to compromise to beat their boredom as a unit then the four strands of rope frayed and they basically would have nothing for the rest of the trip. Tum was asleep next to Colt with a stash of hobnobs under one of his arms and he was taking up most of the space, he couldn't believe how irritated he was getting, Rocky had his seat pulled right back too.

The brothers arrived at the cabin and jumped out running up to complex looking tree "awesome" they said in unison, Tum Tum immediately climbed up it to have a look around.

Rocky smiled at his grandpa "I'm just going to ring Lisa then I'll be right there" Grandpa grimaced, he felt he spent way too much time on the phone, Colt laughed "your whipped" just as he said that he felt his face grow red as a hand crept around his waist, he then found himself berating as he shouldn't have let his guard down, 'she's damned lucky I didn't sock her in jaw' he thought "hey handsome, what took you guys so long" it was Jo of course, only she would be so bold, they had been on and off since last summer, they kissed two summers ago and kept in contact, but somehow that ended up as dating, it one of their unspoken agreements, ever since they both started at different high schools it was harder and harder to keep in contact, with all the work they had to do. He could just see Rocky doing the whipped sign on his way into the house; he wanted to mouth "bite me" but figured that might come out all wrong with Jo and Grandpa stood in earshot. Colt turned to face her completely and smiled at her awkwardly, he had gotten the impression at first that she was a sweet gentle girl, and part of that was true, but he hadn't read in-between the lines, she was also fiercely fiery, headstrong and independent, he should have cottoned onto it when she suggested they all go... including her to bust her pop out of that recycling plant.

She was stunning, nothing at all like Rocky's Girlfriends, they were all straight edged and 90210, she hated pink, kinda wild like him, argumentative and challenging and she just got prettier and prettier, in a sexy wild way. She waved a hand in front of his face before kissing him on the cheek "well anyway, I just stopped by to say welcome back, I'm on my way to join the protest at the road down the way for the next 3 days, and it is the main road into the industrial estate". Colt raised an eyebrow; his girlfriend was huge on peaceful and not so peaceful protesting. "What is it" he tried to sound nice, but it didn't come out that way and he realised it when he said it and bit his tongue, sometimes he was so used to being in Sarcastic mode it just came out. She only said one word "Jack", Tum Tum fell from the tree above holding a rope and grabbed his duffle bag, Colt rolled his eyes, Jo was shocked for a minute but regained her composure and repeated herself "Jack Harding" Tum walked in-between them then "that creep who poisoned your people and your land, how did he not go to prison!!". Jo shrugged "he's at it again, this time with the towns water supply and it doesn't just affect the tribe it affects everyone, he owns the town, he thinks he can do what he wants, he paid a hefty fine, but he is untouchable, he isn't poisoning the town, but his rates are extortionate, some people can't even afford water!" She was going to jump into a political tirade, but stopped herself and smiled remembering that her boyfriend was here; too much too soon, her brother had always told her she was full on. She figured they could catch up a little later without Tum Tum around, she hugged Colt then and Colt could hear his brother gagging behind him and he made a mental note to give him a good dig later. He waved bye to Jo as she was running off, Colt lingered a bit too long on her retreating form, and he slapped his forehead willing himself out of the cloud of what was that feeling, lust? Guh "girls are bad, girls are bad". His grandpa laughed patting his shoulder "she is right, the town people come here with petition, they called a town meeting to try to solve the dispute tomorrow morning, I had no clue, and I have water well after all... Jowella filled me in, after ninja, we go". He said it with finality, no argument there.

Colt stood a bit dumbstruck, but at the look his grandpa was giving him he saluted and ran into the house.

Later on after dinner Tum Tum was helping His grandpa water the Bonsai Trees in the garden, and pruning with precision, he had started using a knife but had had a pair of pruning sheers put in front of him after that display of stupidity. A few yards away in the woods Rocky and Colt sat panting heavily opposite each other on the log they often practiced pole work on. They narrowed their eyes at each other.

Colt spat out a little bit of blood

"As soon as I get up I'm going to really make you wish you didn't do that, you totally almost knocked my tooth out"

Rocky smirked and felt a dribble of blood come out of his nose

"You're a dork when you make lame threats...what about my nose? You're getting almost as good as me..." Colt gave him a look and Rocky laughed "...ALMOST...it's a good challenge, but I don't think mum and dad would be happy that we are pummelling each other into pizza". He smirked, he did enjoy the fight.

Colt snorted "good thing we don't see them for 2 months then, they would freak out at the state of us, mummy would probably have precious Samuel wrapped up in bed" Rocky laughed it off, he had won so he could see the humour, he got up to shake hands. Colt reached up with a smile then retracted his hand at the last minute and sent his brother off the log into the water.

Rocky coughed and spluttered beneath "You'll pay for that, an honest ninja doesn't condone fighting dirty". Colt walked off laughing "A ninja uses everything around him to his advantage".

Rocky splashed water as he dredged himself out, "Yeah I know about Ninjas, but what about Brotherhood!" he shouted after his brother who was waving his hand in between fits of giggles.

The rest of the evening was pretty calm; the boys settled in and had to make dinner. Rocky sat in the kitchen reading his manga book, he was getting really good at Japanese now and he even wrote letters to Miyo in Japanese, with English subtitling, he had to start because apparently he called her mother a fish with blue shoes in one instance by accident.

Colt sat on the porch observing the night sky, he had a weird year, starting high school was a blast, he hated his last year of middle school, when Rocky had left , he had instantly insane amounts of popularity, he came out of his brothers shadow, he wasn't sure about the feeling though, it wasn't as if he was nice to anyone, but people with no minds of their own are glutton for punishment and keep coming back, he was more of a loner, he didn't get his attraction. All his friends where Rocky's friends and all the girls who followed Rocky now followed him, like he was Rocky mark 2? He was himself and he never let them forget it, he had heard of natural born leaders, his brother was one... but he was not one of them, he immediately got promoted to captains of the respective teams him and Rocky played for when Rocky left for High school and he didn't fully understand why, sure he was athletic but he wasn't a people person like his brother was, truth be told he would be happier in a band or simply just being part of a team. It was as if because he was a Douglas, or even just because he was Rocky's brother the mantle was passed down. He wanted his own damned mantle, Since he joined High School though, he had been put on the teams by default, difference was he was back in his brothers shadow again, he actually preferred it, people didn't come up for his opinion all the time, but he did still get annoying girls, no doubt turned down once by Rocky.

Colt stared ahead into the bushes; yep whilst he was deep in thought his little brother had been watching him, planning an attack. Colt smiled "come on Tum Tum, you should have struck whilst I had no IDEA, your way too slow". He heard an exasperated sigh as his little brother stomped out of the bushes with twigs in his hair "yeah well Rocky noticed me quicker!!" he stomped off pulling his tongue out at him. Colt growled "yeah good for him!" his brother could be better at him with everything, he didn't care, as long as it wasn't ninja!

Later in the middle of the night.

"What you DOING Rock?" Colt said as he sat up irritated, he kept getting a glint in his eye and it was hard to sleep anyway, it was his first night away. Rocky slid his glasses off his nose and squinted to look at Colt using only his pocket light "writing a letter to Miyo, why?" Colt rolled his eyes "it's the middle of the night", Colt could see Rocky shrug in the bad light "so, I can't sleep", Tum was snoring so Colt elbowed him onto his side and he snorted and stopped "is it a lurvee letter"? Colt said as he came closer wiggling his eyebrows. It was Rocky's turn to be irritated and yanked the letter out of reach "no! She's my pen pal; you know we write each other, save all those hefty phone calls. In her last letter she asked when we would all be going over to Japan again and how my drivers Ed were going..." Rocky suddenly wondered why he was explaining his actions in such detail, to his brother of all people, he decided to end it "...it's platonic". Colt smiled evilly not understanding the word "Your cheating on Lisa, that's so bad" Rocky slammed his letter to one side and stared at his brother before shaking his head "your insufferable, I can make this conversation very uncomfortable for you too you know" he wiggled his eyebrows in much the style his brother did earlier. Colt frowned he knew he would be bringing this around to Jo somehow, what Rocky didn't understand is that him and Jo hardly saw each other and when they did they mostly caught up by talking, he wasn't about to tell Rocky that though, so un-cool, he had once walked in on Rocky and Lisa back home a few months back, and he had every right, they had still shared a room at the time! He was truly shocked to find them looking very red and almost naked, he had tried to shrug it off but it did freak him out, he realised his naivety.

Colt drifted back to Jo he hadn't seen her in 4 months, she made a surprise visit to the city with her brother and she called him up to meet, they couldn't think of anything to do together without having to call it a date and decided to just hang out around the city, checking stuff out. She was getting really touchy feely though he had to admit, he figured guys where supposed to be the ones with one thing on there minds, but then he reasoned she was a 15 year old red-blooded female, and he didn't have rosy thoughts either, he couldn't believe how different he felt, he thought it was un-cool to hang with Tum anyway, but it was getting unbearable now he was in High school, he found it hard to be around his younger brother without him irritating him with immature comments which would have probably made him laugh months earlier. One noticeable change was his voice wasn't deeper but more gravely which Jo picked up on straight away which embarrassed him so much, worse that his mum did to and kept him off school thinking he had a throat infection. He was starting to resent Rocky's ability to adapt to change so quickly, his brother was his role model and nothing was more embarrassing than having to copy things that Rocky did. Who else could he get relationship advice from, mum and dad? They were complete squares.

The following day it was blazing hot and for once Colt wanted the banana coloured suit his brother was wearing, he tugged at his blue suit once again, it was way too hot and he was way too tired to be doing this. The tree house his grandfather had lovingly crafted for them with his friends was nothing like they imagined, an ultra cool ninja house to practice in, sure it was a traditional ninja house with passage ways and escape holes, ropes and pulleys, but it had some nasty surprises and after 7 hours he was more than sick of the wooden decor They had been staging attacks on grandpa all day long and it was getting close to 3pm and they hadn't won once. It was almost time to go meet up with Jo, great he was an absolute mess, he needed a shower, colt decided to sneak away first to beat his brothers to the bathroom.

Tum was already in there

"Damnit Tum, I need a shower!" Colt whined through the partition. Tum just giggled like a little girl "what so you don't smell for your girlfriend?" Colt breathed out dramatically "at least I have one". Tum Tum opened the door clad in only a towel "EW what would I want with a girlfriend, they distract a ninjas concentration". Colt gave him a sly grin "yeah yeah yeah, you well fancy that little tubby girl across the street!" Tum Tum looked practically mortified "AS IF SPAZ, NEVER, I don't ...like her, like her! She just gives me Jelly beans, she is a cool girl unlike the sort you like, who want to do nothing but KISS you and HUG you and LOVE you ...bleugh!" Colt slammed the door shut on his over-reactive brother doing gagging reflexes and looked at him self in the mirror, he was 15, getting taller, and he had a few spots - which secretly drove him insane, he always used Rocky's Clearasil but it never seemed to work. Colt looked over at the sink, hair gel, he weighed it up, it could be cool, and if he didn't use too much that anyone would notice, ESPECIALLY Rocky.

After his shower he was sat in his shared room on his futon, He found himself thinking back to November in the corridor at school, Emily and her stooges had flanked him and flatly asked him when he was going to get a girlfriend and how sad it was that he didn't have one, he figured it did look a bit strange, he never took any interest in girls, he had enough offers, after all he was on the baseball team, basketball team and he was into Martial arts that everyone knew about, he always turned girls down, He wasn't into all that holding hands nonsense everyone was into his age, he had a picture of Jo and him together which was a stretch for him, he wasn't soppy after all, they were just sitting outside the museum and he had, had to cut her brother out of the corner. He stupidly showed it to Emily when she began to pry into his unavailability for her friend Charlie... another pinkette girly girl, she had been trying to match them up for weeks. She had called him a liar and a sad loser, apparently as he and Jo just looked friendly in the picture, it was a fake apparently and she asked if he was into guys...GUYS, seriously! And for the first time, he had wanted a touchy feely hand holding girlfriend who lived closer if only to shut those harpies up, it wasn't that he didn't want a physical relationship, he just had no experience with it and besides his ninja training was way more important.

Apparently Jo had gone through the same thing, although Colt guessed the details where different, after all she was the granddaughter of the chieftain and the prettiest in the tribe, no that was an understatement, she had changed, she had lost the puppy fat on her face and she had filled out in all the right places, she was even starting to wear makeup and leave her long hair down, he had teased her about that. She mentioned that her grandfather wanted her to date outside of the tribe, obviously he hadn't said the word "date", and Colt laughed at that, it was for unity, but outside of her culture she wasn't sure of. That freaked him out, where her family against them? It didn't help his insecurity either, what if other guys where trying to convince her to dump him? He hadn't been a very good boyfriend, what if the guys she hung around with where better than him, hell that wasn't too hard; he didn't know what to do around girls, he could kick all his rivals asses, he smiled at this to himself, but then grimaced "note to self kicking entire male population of towns ass not an", he chuckled..


	2. Chapter 2 Old Faces and New Feelings

**Chapter Two – Old Faces and New Feelings**

Rocky, Colt and Tum Tum met Jo in the pizzeria in town, Rocky had immediately gone to beat his racing record, he held it in this town and renewing it every summer seemed to be his clear goal when he came in. Tum Tum was ordering his pizza, he seemed to want everything on it at once and the lady was adamant that he really shouldn't as he would get sick. That left Colt and Jo in the booth alone, opposite each other like bookends.

She was wearing a really, stupidly really short denim skirt and a shirt tied in a knot, she slid around to him and he stiffened up on instinct, his battle nerves tingling with reactions, usually when someone got that close, he would one of three options 1, pull away 2, scream obscenities at them and 3, break their hand.

She sensed him draw back and for some reason didn't make it any easier, she dropped her hand below the table and grabbed for his, all the while keeping eye contact and smiling.

"I really missed you, I'm glad your here, are you leaving last week of August again?" she asked in a hushed whisper which drove him wild.

Colt Spluttered and tried to regain some cool, he could handle the situation he was a ninja.

"Yeah..." he about got out steadily, Jo was surprised that was all he was saying, 'great, great, great, going spaz, real smooth!' he thought to himself it was weird four months ago they got on like best friends and he didn't feel weird around her, she was pretty but in a cute way, she looked 'Sexy', Colt shivered a bit, he didn't think he would ever use that word.

Jo shimmied up closer and Colt found himself keeping a look out for his brothers, they would never let him live it down. Jo blocked his vision then and decided to go in for a full on kiss right there in public. Colt couldn't refuse it was dangerous and a bit scary all at once, but he felt adrenaline pump through him when he pulled away to see her sparkling eyes at him. He found himself uttering words under his breath as he caught sight of an oblivious Tum Tum making his way over "concentrate, concentrate". Jo smiled up at Tum Tum as he arrived "Hey Tum Tum, what did you get on your pizza, anything ...Spicy", Colt felt her grab his thigh and squeeze, he almost shot out of his seat, what the hell had happened to his girlfriend over the last 4 months?? She was Flirty sure, she kissed all the boys cheeks that she met and hugged everyone but this was, well...new.

Tum Tum was oblivious to them and looked at them strangely "uh, Garlic Mushrooms, Ham, Pineapple, Chicken, BBQ Sauce, Sweet corn and very soon...sat and vinegar flavoured potato chips" he smiled deviously, Colt looked at his plate and felt immediately nauseated, it wasn't as bad as anchovies but his brother had weird eating habits. Tum spoke loudly over his thoughts "say...are you comfy all squished up I can move over" Tum asked innocently. Colt was about to agree and shove Jo over but she held up her hand "No I'm fine, saving a space for Rocky". Colt shrank a bit in his seat, he didn't know if he could handle another alone moment without guidance, he felt sick about it but he would have to talk to Rocky tonight, if it killed him. It probably would...his pride anyway.

When Rocky came over he looked at the scene in front of him with amusement, his littlest brother pigging out on a pizza that was waaay to big for him and his other brother pushed up to the wall with Jo advancing on the usually cocky ninja like he was prey. Rocky jumped over the table and got in-between Jo and Tum Tum and decided to take the heat away from Colt for a bit and light-heartedly change the subject "So Jo, I heard grandpa mention your name this morning Jowell is it, what does that mean, is like those names running bear and falcon and whatever?" He was too late too see the look of pure panic cross Colts face or the hand gestures. Jo sucked in Air "I hate my name, its Jo ok... just Jo, I don't know, It sounds ok in my language but it comes out all garbled in American translation, it sounds ...manly" she almost looked upset then. Rocky took a gulp, whoops he had upset her, Tum looked up confused "not your real name? So do you have one?" Jo continued "it means Lightening Bug or Firefly, it isn't actually my spiritual name, people just say it for short, I haven't had my naming ceremony yet, not officially, most of our people don't until they are my age... it was my brothers joke and it stuck, he thinks I have a bad temper and I'm too quick to jump to conclusions, I don't know how he got that idea!". Rocky's eyes widened as he found himself trying to nod to agree with her sympathetically, whilst at the same time noticing how fickle both his brother and Jo truly where, what a match, He actually thought to himself that Colt could just hit out at him sometimes he was that unpredictable with his mood swings.

Colt pushed his teeth together and rubbed Jo's back nervous that he had to show affection in front of his brothers "hey it's cool, Firefly, that's like totally awesome right guys and you'll probably get named something even cooler, can't be worse than being named after a rock...or. Your stomach" he laughed at Tum Tum then. Tum rubbed his stomach in pride and paid no mind to them "or a ...ickle wickle baby horsey" he said finally under his breath landing him a hard glare from his brother. Rocky stood up and suggested they go to the town meeting a little earlier than planned; it was just way too confined in the booth.

When they arrived at the town meeting it was pretty Chaotic, they had gotten a ride of their grandpa and they had, had to park a while away as it was full of trucks and cars. The Town hall was heaving, the very same mayor stood on the stage in the front waving his arms in an effort to calm everyone down, Jack Harding and his Cowboy droogs sat arms folded grinning on a top table overlooking what appeared to be the whole town with two sheriffs either side of him with guns. The mayor took a gulp "people, people, we can talk this out in a civilised manner!" an elderly woman stood up waving her cane "that man has caused nothing but hardship since he arrived in this town and he is a poison to our community!" she yelled pointing the cane in the Direction of Harding. Harding just laughed "it is a competitive rate, shut ya trap you old crone!" he spat out before standing up "you either pay the rates, move or get thirsty, I ain't bending to your will, I've done enough for this damned town" he sat down then, apparently this caused more trouble as Jo's father stood up "Come on Mayor, surely you can see this is having a detrimental effect on the town, crops are being left un-watered, there isn't enough rain and people can't afford drinking water!" The mayor sighed before sitting down, Jack Harding whispered in his ear and he rubbed his face with his hand in a defeated manner. "I'm afraid there is a water shortage, and Mr Harding has no choice but to raise his prices, I suggest we only use when and if it is truly needed, meeting called". He stood up then to angry yells. The sheriffs started breaking the groups of people up as they looked to be about to form an angry mob.

Jo, Colt, Rocky and Tum ran out into the parking lot, Jo kicked a bin outside "There is NO WATER Shortage; he's just a GREEDY son of a bitch!" Colt and Rocky exchanged glances "he is just a creep Jo, calmed down we'll get to the bottom of it", Jo smiled then "My father mentioned that the readouts for the water shortage, the stats Jack has given in are fakes. The real data is kept under lock and key at his base of operations...his house". Colt smiled "bit of recon?" Jo smiled "TOTALLY" Colt rolled his eyes at her use of his phrases, and Tum high fived her. Rocky waved his arms around "wait, wait, wait! You arn't serious about breaking into his house, that is so a felony, and we arn't supposed to get in trouble this year, what if dad bans us from going next year!" Colt slapped Rocky's hand down "Relax rock, its for the good of the town and Grandpa, he'll be with us 100 besides you'll be able to drive us up next year", Rocky shred his logical thoughts and got a glint of mischief in his eye that even worried Colt a little "Tonight then". They put their hands in together "Four strands of Rope".


	3. Chapter 3 The Action Begins

Thank you for the review! sorry it took a while but action scenes are really hard for me. For reference a ro sham bo a kicj in the nads!

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Chapter 3 - The Action Begins

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Tum Tum was stalling grandpa out in the backyard whilst Rocky and Colt gathered the ninja weapons from the trunk in his bedroo

Tum Tum was stalling grandpa out in the backyard whilst Rocky and Colt gathered the ninja weapons from the trunk in his bedroom. Colt could see his brother noticed how agitated he was, he could read him like a book, he decided now was a good a time as any, he just hoped he didn't laugh at him, or he would be forced to hit him.

"err.. Rock", Rocky looked up knowingly, he didn't know what Colt wanted but he could tell his brother had been trying to come out with something, he wondered if he was about to admit to using his Clearasil, gel and deodorant for the last few weeks and whether he was going to come right out with it.

Colt started busying himself with the weapons and took his eyes from Rocky "you know, Jo...right", Rocky rolled his eyes "no I just met her...out with it spaz", Colt breathed out in slight relief, it was much easier to talk to his brother when he was being insulted for some reason, they had a complex relationship "well she's, different, the way she's acting", Rocky smiled at Colt and gathered the pile of shurikens off the bed as they tiptoed up to their room. When they sat down on the futons, they where stuffing their bags full of the weapons when Rocky spoke "I know, but she's a young woman now", Colt rolled his eyes "god you sound just like mum", Rocky laughed "Yeah well mum wouldn't tell you what I'm about to". Colt stopped stuffing his bag and looked at his brother in pure curiosity "what do you mean!?" Rocky smiled and took out his wallet and waved it in front of Colt, he opened it and there was a condom inside it, Colt covered his mouth in shock "NO WAY!" Rooky smiled and closed it again "yeah, not yet, but later, Lisa is saving herself for me, maybe next summer, I'm nervous, she got me it, sort of like a promise". Rocky went red then and decided to get up and move over to the skylight. Colt looked deep in thought for a moment "so, your going to actually do it then, man that's weird, your like 16... worse... I'm 15 and I'm...well...god does it really happen so fast?" Rocky sat down again next to his brother "I love her, I'm responsible and so is she, You and Jo, you like each other, but you need to get to know each other better, then things will slot into place, I saw her coming onto you before, you'll feel more comfortable if you guys talk and have time to yourself". Colt smiled at his brother, wow he was actually pretty cool ...sometimes. "So you think we should go on a date?", Rocky smiled "that's what I call it, what would Colt do, you know what she likes, she isn't soppy " Rocky walked to the spiral stairs then "I'm gonna start dinner then", he was almost down when colt shouted him., "what?", Colt smiled "thanks man", Rocky left him up there.

The boys snuck down the spiral staircase at night, Rocky checked on his Grandpa using the stem of a feather to tickle him, he was out like a light. Tum Tum snuck to the kitchen and got last minute snacks, which they didn't need apart from him, but never mind.

They arrived at the fork in the road down the road from where Jo lived, they could see her in the distance waving. Colt jogged up ahead to meet up with her.

She smiled when she saw him "hey", Colt laughed she was wearing war paint again in purple and black and she had black clothes on. He was wearing his dark navy blue ninja suit "didn't you know ninjas don't wear black, it doesn't reflect the moonlight" he tugged at her top. She smiled "I'm not a ninja, beside's, if he grabs me you'll kick his ass". She leant over and grabbed him into kiss which completely threw him for six. She drew back breathing on his lips gently "whoa" he whispered "that was...unexpected and usually so ready for anthing" he said with a cheeky smile,. Jo grabbed his hand "you ready for me?" she smiled as they met up with the others "we need to go now, there is only a 30 minute interval between security shifts at his house, one finishes at 1:30am and the next guard starts his shift at 2am". Rocky was impressed "you've really thought this through huh", Jo giggled "I don't break laws... a lot, but when I do its worth it, just don't tell your dad k" she smiled at them. Tum Tum sat complaining on his bike "I still don't understand why I have to wear this stupid thing", he was wearing one of colts ninja suits and it swam on him Rocky sighed "because people can see you a mile off in your yellow GI!", Tum Tum whined "he is too lanky, and he doesn't have any hidden pockets for candy", Colt laughed "yeah right, what you mean is I'm taller than you stumpy and I only have places for proper ninja stars" Tum Tum went to do a ro sham bo but Rocky held him back "would you guys chill!".

Jo ran up to Colt and jumped on his bike which he felt weird about, whenever he gave lifts it was always people on the back, but she flung her legs over the handlebars. "eujrr" Jo smiled up and him and he just smiled cheesily before feeling embarrassed. The other two brothers rode on ahead, not bearing the lovey dovey scene or not wanting to get involved.

Colt felt like a love sick fool but he couldn't help but notice when Jo's hair kept tickling him on the chin, he liked it.

"So Jo" He said finally, startling them both as he sounded more confident than he felt, She looked up at him "yeah", he cleared his throat having a quick glance around, first for rocks he could steer into, he didn't want to do that again, especially not taking Jo with him that would be brutal and so shameful... He also did a quick scout for his brothers who were well ahead now to his good luck "do you err, wanna err go on a Date later?" she giggled up at him "A date? You on a Date? Colt, you hate all that stuff and.. No..." his heart sank "BUT ...but I will make out with you later and then we can go swimming in the lake, I don't fancy going out for a meal or something ...too girly" she said it all very quickly like she was embarrassed, he smiled then, going a bit red "that could be cool", he felt his heart skip a beat as she cradled herself closer to him.

They arrived at Harding's house and it was basically a large house with walls and a big gate, the gate sat next to a gatehouse which looked basically like a room with a porch, it had a few guys in cowboy hats playing poker.

Jo whispered as they neared the wall "they are the only people on the whole estate for the next 25 minutes, the next security guy will arrive at 2am and will pass through those gates, someone will have to keep watch and contact us through these, they produced three walkie talkies. The boys nodded. And took off their back packs producing two ropes, they flung them up and they tethered to the wall.

"ok so what is the plan, cameras?" Rocky said in a hushed tone.

Jo nodded "one outside Jacks bedroom, it overlooks the stairs, his room is at the top of the stairs, his study is down the hall from that and I believe the reports are in his backup disks by his computer, least that's what our mole said". Rocky was shocked "you had a mole in their"? Tum Tum was confused "what would he want with moles in his house, that's a little weird" Colt got exasperated "not MOLES, MOLES you idiot" Tum Tum threw up his hands "like I said!! What?" Colt slapped his forehead "a SPY Tum...a Spy". Tum Tum let the penny drop "oh!" Jo looked sad "nobody has seen him since he last contacted us, Jack found him out and took him somewhere, we must go now or it is all in vain", Rocky, Colt and Tum scaled the wall and Rocky and Colt pulled Jo up. They jumped down behind bushes.

Jo crouched down and the boys copied "I'm the only one who knows the floor plan, Tum is going to have to stay and keep watch", Tum stood up to protest "why does the girl get to go and I don't?" Rocky rolled his eyes "stop whining Tum, your very important to the mission". The three of them scurried across the dark bits of lawn to the main house leaving Tum behind with a stash of food and a walkie talkie.

They reached the house and Jo used a credit card to open the lock, Rocky stared at her "I don't wanna know how you learned that", Colt smiled "awesome".

They found themselves in a large kitchen, Rocky noticed Dog Bowls "they are big Bowls", he said in a hurried whisper, Jo shrugged "well he keeps big dogs, but they are usually asleep in his bedroom, we aren't going to go in there". They crept down the hall, Colt looked up through to the main entrance "there is the camera, it's mounted on the ceiling overlooking the grand staircase". Rocky pulled Jo back to the wall "Colt go do your thing, me and Jo will go upstairs, you shadow us and watch out for heat", Colt nodded. He rolled forward and crept along the wall, until he was under the camera, he then jumped up, his legs braced on either side of the wall in the corner and climbed up. He leant over and pulled out some tiny wires and re-fed them backwards, now the camera was feeding a frozen image of an empty staircase, he gestured for Rocky Jo to move out. They crept up the stairs and Colt jumped down from the wall silently, he watched through the window and could see a black pickup truck stopped at the gates with High Beams on. He could see the card players talking to the person in the van, he then heard crackling down the walkie talkie "come in sidekicks this is monster destroyer! Do you read?" Colt rolled his eyes and raised his hands in the air as Rocky stifled a giggled "yeah, what is it Tum, is it security?" Tum Tum breathed in "negative, its some dudes in suits, you need to get out of there, the cowguys are doing checks on him now, they are headed to the house". Rocky stuffed the talkie in his Gi "lets get what we came for and get out one of the top windows, move out now", he and Jo rushed up the stairs and Colt followed 4 metres behind, sticking to dark corners. They each took a deep breath as they crept passed Harding's room, they could hear snoring and decided to rush along to the end of the hall, they ended up in a large Study with a French doors behind a large oak desk. Jo crept forward and started shifting papers around on the it, Colt peered through the French door blinds making sure he could secure an exit plan. Rocky stood watch at the door to the study growing increasingly nervous as he could hear breathing down the hall and that means that they could be easily heard "we should hurry" was all he said. Jo rummaged through the bottom drawer of the old desk and was surprised to hear something click, a tiny compartment opened under the drawer of the desk revealing a small wallet with 5 disks in. "Bingo!" Jo said smiling and standing up. Suddenly Rocky looked alarmed "oh no! Security has just entered the house!!" Then colt lifted up his walkie talkie as it was cracking, he could hear Tum Tum whispering on the other end "guys? Guys, they saw me, I'm hiding into a murky pipe which is even too small for me!! You guys gotta come get me they are looking for me on both sides!", Colt sprang into action throwing the two French blinds open and flinging open the doors, a loud siren like alarm sounded and the teens froze, Rocky threw his hands up shutting the study door "you absolute spastic!" he yelled as he grabbed a side of the bookcase and with difficulty pulled it in front of the door. They could all now clearly hear Harding making his way up the hall "I don't care u imbeciles, get IN THERE!!"

Jo ran up to Colt and put the disks in his backpack before helping him get the ropes out of the side compartment. Rocky slid down to the floor by them and started untangling ropes, he could see torch lights flickering by the window "they'll have guns", he breathed passed exasperated, Colt shrugged "we've dealt before", Rocky grabbed his cocky brothers shoulders "nothing is ever like before, things can change, we can die, We have Jo to worry about and ...look just be careful ok?" Colt shook him off, but he couldn't help but feel a little shiver himself "sure, you too, I'll take Jo, she's my responsibility, you take out the guards" he said it with finality and Rocky stood up, he was actually looking forward to kicking these droogs asses into the mud after what he had heard". "on the count of three I'll jump, give me twenty seconds then you follow?", Colt nodded tying a knot in the rope and standing legs slightly a part taking up the slack, Rocky would be jumping off the balcony using Colt as an anchor and they had only ever tried that once and that had ended with them both in a lake piled up like dirty laundry, Rocky nodded tugging the rope a little, Colt breathed out "1, 2, 3 GO!" Colt yelled and Rocky did a flying run off the balcony and swung around to the floor and kicked an unsuspecting guard in the centre of the chest sending him sailing into a column opposite. Colt careened towards the window before finding his centre of gravity and gritting his teeth, he untied the rope and let Rocky fall, hopefully no more than a metre off the ground. Below Rocky was in full swing in the darkness, he guessed there were two guards to his right and three left, he could see the torches waving around madly trying to find them, but they only saw flickers of green before seeing darkness. Colt nodded to Jo, they had tied the two ropes to the sturdy old oak desk and grabbed hands, Colt dragged them towards the window and they jumped down into a slight abseil. Colt touched the ground and the first thing he saw were his brothers intense eyes, they softened as realisation dawned on Rocky. They heard a scream then and abruptly turned around to see headlights followed by a large pickup truck and lots of people yelling in their direction. Colt felt a creeping realisation ""shit!! JO!!", but Rocky was already dragging him along away from her screams "what are you doing ROCK!!", Rocky pulled his distressed brother behind bushes as the yelling guards ran past with lots of firepower "outmanned! Outgunned! Never fight a battle you are not sure you will win!! WE'LL find her I promise" Rocky said the last bit in a hopeful tone but Colt knew better, his brother was right but he liked to sugar-coat everything. Colt was cold and spoke with spite "lets get Tum and get out". Rocky nodded his brothers icy tone not lost on him, he knew his brother blamed himself and there was nothing he could do, Colt devoured his spirit from the inside out and sometimes it drove Rocky trying to be calm for the both of them.

They found Tum in an abandoned pipe, some 40 yards from the house in a construction site "cornered you on both sides huh?" Rocky sneered as he helped his filthy little brother up "I thought they were chasing me, must have outran those old fossils, hey where is Jo?" Colt shifted his weight "not with us clearly" he stated sarcastically which left Tum with a frown on his face, Rocky stepped in "she's with them, but not for much longer, we have the disks in Colts bag, Tum you will get them to the tribe and me and Colt are going to get Jo," Rocky said with authority, Colt looked at his brother angrily "We don't even know were they have taken her!" Rocky smiled as he lifted up a phonebook and diary "lifted it from his study, not much but it's a start, all his contacts are in here". Colt smiled, his brother did plan ahead.


End file.
